WW1 POWs in Turkestan

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Jakhongir Tojiboev (Namangan State University)

This study focuses on the placement of prisoners of war captured by the Russian

Empire and brought to Turkestan. From September 1914, POWs were placed in military camps

in Turkestan, and by June 1915, the number of such camps reached 37. The following can be

shown as the reasons for the placement of many prisoners of war in Turkestan: Firstly, the

military camps in Turkestan are located far away from the Center, and as a result there was no

possibility of escape, secondly, it was important that the food products in this country were

sufficient and cheap compared to other regions of Russia. The captured military officers, doctors,

engineers and officials were mostly Austro-Hungarians and German who were placed in the

districts of Turkestan, such as Tashkent, Skobelev (Fergana), Namangan, Kokand, Samarkand,

New Bukhara (Kogon), Jizzakh, Khojand. As of July 21, 1915, there were about 150,000

prisoners of war in Turkestan. By March 1916, the number of prisoners of war in the country

reached 200,000. Sometimes, their number surpassed the population of the cities where they

settled.

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